2011 Football League One play-off final

Huddersfield Town finished the regular 2010–11 season in third place in Football League One, the third tier of the English football league system, one place and eight points ahead of Peterborough United. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Football League Championship and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Huddersfield Town finished five points behind Southampton (who were promoted in second place) and eight behind league winners Brighton & Hove Albion. The second leg was held four days later at London Road in Peterborough. McCann scored in the 11th minute from a free-kick to put Peterborough into the lead before Mackail-Smith's close-range strike made it 2–0 and sent his side to the final with a 4–3 aggregate victory. Huddersfield Town faced AFC Bournemouth in the other semi-final; the first leg was played at Dean Court in Bournemouth on 14 May 2011. Midway through the first half, Kevin Kilbane put the visitors ahead with a header from Gary Roberts' cross. Soon after, Rhoys Wiggins was fouled by Huddersfield goalkeeper Ian Bennett, who conceded a penalty. Danny Ings took the spot-kick but Bennett dived to his right to make the save. In the 60th minute, Donal McDermott scored with a shot from around to level the match, which ended 1–1. The second leg took place four days later at the Galpharm Stadium in Huddersfield. Lee Peltier gave Huddersfield the lead on 26 minutes from a Roberts corner, but Steve Lovell equalised just before half-time from the penalty spot after Adam Smith was fouled in the Huddersfield penalty area. Danny Ward restored the home side's lead just before half-time with a strike past Bournemouth's goalkeeper Shwan Jalal. Midway through the second half, McDermott's pass found Lovell who rounded Bennett and scored to make it 2–2. With the aggregate score 3–3 at the final whistle, the match went into extra time. Ings scored for Bournemouth from a Marc Pugh cross in the 104th minute but Antony Kay equalised almost immediately with a header from a Roberts corner. Midway through the second period of additional time, Jason Pearce was shown the red card for a foul. The match ended 3–3, and with the scores level at 4–4 on aggregate, a penalty shootout was required to determine who would progress. Michael Symes and Lee Novak scored the opening penalties for Bournemouth and Huddersfield respectively but Liam Feeney's spot-kick was saved by Bennett. Ward made it 2–1 to Huddersfield before Anton Robinson missed his penalty. Kilbane and Shaun Cooper then scored for Huddersfield and Bournemouth respectively, but Kay scored the decider and Huddersfield won the shootout 4–2, progressing to the final. ==Match==

Background Due to the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final being held at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2011, it appeared that the three Football League play-off finals may have to be played at a different venue for the first time since 2007. Manchester United's Old Trafford had been confirmed as a possible alternative, while Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff were also under consideration to host the Championship, League One and League Two play-off finals. It was confirmed in January 2011 that Wembley would host the Championship play-off final on 30 May, while Old Trafford would host the League Two and League One finals on 28 and 29 May respectively. The match was Huddersfield Town's third play-off final—their previous appearances came in 1995 (a 2–1 win over Bristol Rovers) and 2004 (a 4–1 penalty shootout win over Mansfield Town)—and capped their seventh overall appearance in the Football League play-offs. They had been relegated to the third tier of English football at the end of the 2002–03 season. Peterborough United had also featured in two previous play-off finals, winning the Football League Third Division final in both 1992 (2–1 against Stockport County) and 2000 (1–0 against Darlington). They had been relegated to League One the previous season, finishing bottom of the division and 15 points from safety. The sides had played each other three times during the season, twice in the league and once in the Football League Trophy. Peterborough won the first league encounter 4–2 at London Road in August 2010; Huddersfield secured a 3–2 victory six weeks later in the cup competition. The second league match took place in April 2011 and ended in a 1–1 draw. This was also the second time the sides had faced one another in the play-offs, with Peterborough winning 4–3 on aggregate in the 1992 semi-finals. Jordan Rhodes was Huddersfield's top scorer with 26 goals (20 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup, 1 in the League Cup and 4 in the Football League Trophy) followed by Anthony Pilkington with 14 (10 in the league and 3 in the Football League Trophy). The referee for the match was Steve Tanner. He was assisted by Peter Bankes and Charles Breakspear, Mick Russell acted as the fourth official and Seb Stockbridge was reserve assistant referee. The final was broadcast live in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports. Huddersfield adopted a 4–5–1 formation while Peterborough played as a 4–3–2–1. Summary The match kicked off around 3p.m. on 29 May 2011 at Old Trafford in front of 48,410 spectators. In the fifth minute, Mackail-Smith's shot was deflected by Kay onto the outside of Huddersfield's post from a tackle. Boyd then struck from around but his shot was saved by Bennett. For Huddersfield, Peltier headed a Roberts pass over the Peterborough crossbar before Jones caught Clarke's on-target header. Benik Afobe, playing as a lone striker, then missed an opportunity for Huddersfield before Mackail-Smith was denied once again by Kay. Roberts' free-kick was then tipped round the post by Jones before Afobe struck wide from from the resulting corner. Mackail-Smith then hit a shot wide while unmarked after receiving a pass from Boyd, and the half ended goalless. The first chance of the second half fell to McCann who struck a curling free-kick over the bar from around , before Ward's run down the wing ended with his shot striking the Peterborough crossbar. Kay then fouled Mackail-Smith, who was through on goal, and was shown a yellow card. In the 78th minute, Peterborough took the lead as Rowe's header from McCann's free-kick went into the Huddersfield net. In immediate response, Danny Cadamarteri was brought on for Ward as Huddersfield switched to two strikers, but Mackail-Smith doubled Peterborough's lead within two minutes, his shot deflecting into the goal off Kay. With five minutes remaining, McCann increased his side's lead with a long-range strike before Lee Tomlin's shot went over the Huddersfield crossbar. Peterborough won the match 3–0 and were promoted to the Championship. Details ==Post-match==

Darren Ferguson, the Peterborough manager, was quick to praise his chairman, Darragh MacAnthony, noting "he's spent money, had a right go and had the bottle to get me back at the club". Huddersfield Town finished their following season in fourth position in League One and qualified for the 2012 Football League play-offs where they met Sheffield United in the final, winning promotion to the Championship after a penalty shootout. ==References==